Eileen Vollick, Canada’s first licensed woman pilot, was born
in Wiarton, Ontario. By the age of 19, she was a textile analyst at
the Hamilton Cotton Company and had also won a local beauty contest.
She was a spirited girl who had parachuted into Burlington Bay
before taking flying lessons. It was 1927. Charles Lindbergh had
just flown the Atlantic and Amelia Earhart was beginning to capture
the public’s imagination. The diminutive Beach Boulevard resident
had already set her sights much higher than anyone could have
imagined!
She enrolled in the Flying School owned by Jack
V. Elliot at Ghents Crossing on Burlington Bay. The only reservation
that her instructor, Len Tripp had, was that she was only 5' 1"s and
had to use pillows to see out of the cockpit of the ski-equipped
Curtiss JN-4 Bi-plane (affectionately known as a "Jenny")
Registration: G-CANY.
She demonstrated take-offs and landings on the
frozen Bay, performed five figure-eights and flew 175 miles
cross-country. The Comptroller of Civil Aviation issued Eileen a
private pilot’s licence #77 on March 13, 1928, the first woman in
Canada to qualify as a pilot.
After passing her flight test, she flew in the
U.S. and Canada, often demonstrating aerobatic flying which she
enjoyed immensely. Shortly afterwards she became Mrs. James Hopkin,
moved to New York State and raised a family, where she lived until
her death in 1968.
September 1976, the East Canada Section of the
99s, in cooperation with the Ontario Heritage Foundation, sponsored
a ceremony for the unveiling of a historical plaque in honour of
Eileen Vollick, our first licensed woman pilot. Over 100 guests were
present, including Government officials, the President of the
Canadian Aviation Historical Society, Fred Hotson, 99s Governor
Helen Barter, Section Historian Dorothy Renwick and Eileen’s
Instructor, Mr. Len Tripp. The plaque was unveiled by three members
of Eileen’s family, including her husband Mr. James Hopkin. The
plaque can be seen at the entrance to the Canadian Warplane Heritage
Museum at Hamilton Airport.
The First Canadian Chapter had previously
(posthumously) awarded Eileen with an Amelia Earhart Medallion in
1975 at the occasion of their 25th Anniversary and East
Canada Section Fall Meeting.
EILEEN VOLLICK is featured in the 99s East Canada
Collection Display at the Toronto Aerospace Museum in Downsview.
[Author: Shirley Allen, Research]
